WORLD : Suspected Terrorist Extradited

A judge today ordered a Palestinian-American held for questioning on suspicion he carried out a fatal bus attack. The suspect was the first to be extradited from the United States during the Palestinian uprising.

Mahmoud Atta, allegedly a member of the Abu Nidal terrorist group, is accused of taking part in a 1986 machine-gun attack on a bus carrying Jewish settlers in the West Bank. The driver was killed and a passenger wounded.

His lawyer accused police of violating the extradition agreement barring mistreatment by denying Atta a change of clothes and a shower since his arrival in Israel on Wednesday.

“Police invited all the camera crews and then presented him dirty and unshaven,” defense lawyer Leah Tzemel told reporters outside the courtroom. “This is how you build an image of a terrorist.”